Match-box.



PATENTBD JUNE 2, 1903.

F. A. WATTENBERG.

MATCH BOX.- APPLIUAIION FILED K AB. 17, 1902.

a I W a-Hoznzu T am-ucm-lioc UNITED STATES Patented June 2, 1903.

Fries.

PATENT MATCH-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 729,817, dated June 2, 1903.

Application filed March 17, 1902. Serial No. 98,695. 1N0 model.)

T0 aZZ whom/it may concern:

Be itknown that I, FERDINAND A. WATTEN- BERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have made a new and useful invention in Match-Boxes, of which the following, is'a specification.

My invention has for its objects, first, to provide a portable match-box with a detachable cup, casing, or receptacle having material contained therein forignitin g safety-matches; second, to provide a portable match-box with means for igniting safety-matches and in such manner that the igniting material will be so protected that it will not come in contact with the hands or clothing of the user and also will not be acted upon by perspiration.

Prior to my invention a match-box was devised for safety matches provided with a detachable igniting-surface which covered practically the entire side or face of the box, said box having a protecting shield or lid adapted to cover-the igniting-surface, the latter being in the nature of a thin sheet of paper coated with the igniting material, as disclosed in United States Patent No. 120,892, granted November 14, 1871, to L. O. P. Meyers. A portable match-box had also been devised for safety-matches in which the igniting material was embedded or firmly attached in the bottom of a groove in one edge of the box, as disclosed in English patent to Allday, No. 10,041 of 1896, and I make no claim hereinafter broad enough to include such structures, my improvement'being directed to a portable match-box in which the igniting material is embedded or secured in a detachable cup or casing and the box itself provided with a groove adapted to receive such casing with the igniting material in an exposed position, but at such depth below the outer surface of the box as to prevent contact between the fingers or hands of the user and the igniting material.

My invention will be fully understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective View of'a matchbox embodying the improvement. Fig. 2 is Fig.

3 is a plan view of the detachable cup or casing which holds the igniting material, illustrating alsothe igniting material as contained therein. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken through Fig. 3 on the line 3 y.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and first to Figs. 1 and 2, 'I indent or otherwise form in the body of a match-box A, preferably of metal, a groove or chamber E (see Fig. 8) of such depth as toconstitute a guideway or support for the detachable cup or casing R, also preferably of metal, such as tin, brass, or the like. This cup or casing when completed is filled with the igniting material C, which is composed of suitable chemicals and a binding agent, as mucilage, such composition being well known in the art and is in the nature of a paste, which is packed into the cup or casing for a definite depth and allowed, to dry. The cup or casing D and its contained igniting material may then be slipped into position in the groove E E and held in such position by the lid B. These cups or casings, with the prepared material packed therein, may be sold as articles of manufacture and supplied to the user, it being only necessary when one of them has been used to substitute another in place of it. Gr, Fig. 1, represents a roughened igniting-surface for parlor or ordinary friction matches.

I do not limit my invention to the special details of construction shown. I believe it is broadly new with me to provide a portable match-box with igniting material for safetymatches so located in a detachable cup or casing in the surface of the box as to be protectedfrom contact with the fingers or clothing of the user without any protecting cover or case, and my claims are generic as to this feature.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A match-box havinga grooveinits outer surface; in combination with a detachable cup or casing filled with igniting material and adapted to be inserted in said groove, the groove being of such depth and width that when the igniting material is in place it will never come in contact with the hands of the user, substantially as described.

2. Amatch-box having a groove in its outer IOC surface; in combination with a detachable cup or casing filled with igniting material and adapted to be inserted in said groove, the groove being of such depth and width that when the igniting material is in place it will never come in contact with the hands of the user, the arrangement being such that'when the lid or cover of the box is closed the igniting material is held in place, substantially as described.

3. A match-box having a detachable cup or casing filled with material for igniting safetymatches, substantially as described.

4:. A match-box having a groove or chamber in one side or edge thereof; in combination with a detachable cup or casing adapted In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

FERDINAND A.' WATTENBERG. Witnesses:

C. J KINTNER, M. F. KEATING. 

